Northwood University concluded its 2026 Commencement celebration Saturday by honoring Mary Kissel, executive vice president and senior policy adviser at Stephens Inc., during the University’s 3 p.m. ceremony.
Kissel’s career has spanned journalism, finance, public service, and global affairs. She has advised political leaders, Fortune 500 CEOs, and institutional investors on geopolitics, markets, and strategy, and previously served as senior adviser to the U.S. secretary of state. On May 9, she received an honorary doctorate from Northwood University and delivered the final commencement address of the day, helping close a celebration that recognized nearly 600 graduates across three ceremonies.
The honorary doctorate is the highest distinction conferred by Northwood University. The honor is reserved for individuals whose leadership and accomplishments have resulted in significant and lasting contributions to society. Honorary degree recipients are formally inducted into Northwood University’s Gallery of Distinction, joining leaders in business, education, philanthropy, public service, and the arts whose influence has advanced society and whose lives embody The Northwood Idea. Northwood’s guiding philosophy, The Northwood Idea, emphasizes free enterprise, limited government, individual responsibility, moral law and earned success.
Earlier in her career, Kissel spent 14 years with The Wall Street Journal, including service as editorial page editor for Asia-Pacific in Hong Kong and as a member of the editorial board in New York.
Her honorary doctorate builds on her existing connection to Northwood. She headlined a 2024 Leadership Insights: A View from the Helm speaker series event and was among Northwood’s 2024 Class of Distinguished Women Award honorees.
In her commencement address, Kissel encouraged graduates to recognize the extraordinary opportunity they have as citizens of a free nation and as graduates of a university rooted in free enterprise.
“I have spent my life, my career, supporting free markets and free people, and I want to talk to you today about how fortunate we are to live in this country at this moment in time,” Kissel said. “Northwood, the Class of 2026, you are poised to prosper.”
Kissel acknowledged that graduates are entering a world marked by political division, rapidly changing technology and global instability. But she urged them not to be intimidated by the moment.
“My message to you today is: Don’t worry. Embrace it. You have your freedom. You are free,” Kissel said. “Freedom is the ultimate competitive edge in life when coupled, as President MacDonald said, with hard work. It is what makes our nation unique, and the envy of the world, as we celebrate our 250th year.”
Drawing from her experiences in Russia and Hong Kong, Kissel contrasted life in free societies with life under communist and authoritarian regimes. She recalled witnessing post-Soviet Moscow begin to open to Western investment and culture, and later seeing Hong Kong residents defend the freedoms that distinguished their city from communist China.
“The moral here is that like the Russians, the Hong Kongers did not want to be more like communist China,” Kissel said. “They wanted to be more like us. More like you. Free.”
Kissel told graduates they should cherish the gift they have by being part of the American tradition of liberty.
“You are uniquely qualified to deal with all of the chaotic things that I mentioned at the beginning of my remarks,” Kissel said. “Yes, AI. Yes, our politics. Yes, what is going on abroad. You are the ones who will be able to not just handle it, but solve these problems.”
She closed by connecting the graduates’ future opportunities to The Northwood Idea.
“Seize these opportunities in your future. Keep building this great nation,” she said. “And remember: Your ultimate advantage is freedom.”
The 3 p.m. ceremony concluded a full day of commencement exercises on May 9, 2026. Earlier ceremonies featured Dr. Gabriel Benzecry, Northwood’s David E. Fry Professor of Free Market Economics, and Rita Case, president, CEO and owner of The Rick Case Automotive Group, the largest U.S. auto retail group owned and operated by a woman.
Through the three ceremonies, Northwood celebrated the Class of 2026 while emphasizing three of the University’s distinct institutional strengths: academic excellence and free enterprise; automotive leadership and entrepreneurship; and principled leadership with global relevance.
For more information, visit Northwood’s commencement page.
